“Spread your wings to cover me
Stars imperishing and bright
I am a stranger in the land
Where the falcon lost his eye
And he cried a mighty river
Now it surges from its shores
And I’m left to drink the flood down
A raft adrift with broken oars”

A bloom of roses on his face
Tongue stained red with sweet shiraz
The wine cuts deep into the skin
The same way the desert does
And his eyes well up and empty
To wash the sand from off his clothes
Born in the eastern sky this morning
Died in the same way that he rose

It set upon the empire
And did these soldiers turn to thieves
The wealth of kings laid low and waiting
Airless space of centuries
Me in khaki and white linen
They in their white linen too
Dressed in palm wine spice and honey
To let the jackal take his due

So he thought a little while
About the measure of his heart
And the scales that tip and balance
Where the souls wait to depart
And the crocodile laid waiting
Her hunger deep within
For the souls of thieves and traitors
The least original of sin

“Spread your wings to cover me
Stars imperishing and bright
I am a stranger in the land
Where the falcon lost his eye
He’ll swoop and dip and keen
And then he falls upon his prey
The curse of 7000 years
Screaming down on drunks like me”

In the evening light of Cairo
He can hear the master's call
Sees the feather placed and waiting
For a heavy heart to fall
They’ll find him in the river
Wrapped in linens for his clothes
Born in the eastern sky this morning
Died in the same way that he rose